We are a small consultancy, and we work with a wide variety of other people and organisations as necessary. Our client always has a single point of contact – with Footprint Ecology – yet we can draw on a wide range of expertise to build a team ideally suited to the work required. Examples of the people we have worked with can be found within our links section. Our core staff include:
Durwyn Liley BSc, PhD, IEEM - Director
Durwyn’s doctoral research, completed in 1999, was the first study to address the population consequences of human disturbance for a bird species. Human disturbance and access have remained key research throughout his conservation career. Since leaving academia, Durwyn has worked as a warden with the RSPB, as a project manager for the RSPB, as a research ecologist for Butterfly Conservation, as an ecologist for Birdlife International and as a conservation officer for English Nature. He co-founded Footprint Ecology in 2005 as a way of using his skills and experience to contribute directly to nature conservation while integrating his environmental principles.
Birds have always been an over-riding passion since childhood and Durwyn has worked on a wide variety of species and bird conservation projects – including work in Canada, Pakistan, Indonesia, Paraguay, Israel, Bolivia, Fiji and New Zealand. Durwyn is a keen all round naturalist with a wider interest within the UK that encompasses cetaceans, hoverflies, dragonflies and plants.
Durwyn acts as a scientific advisor on access and disturbance for Natural England and is an external advisor for HLF. He has recently reviewed papers for Oryx, Bird Study and Ibis.
John Day BSc, PhD, MBiol, Cbiol, IEEM, FRICS - Director
John is a chartered biologist, a member of the IEEM and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He has had considerable experience of practical conservation land management at both ground and executive levels, and as a warden, reserve manager, land agent and ecologist. He has been employed as a senior warden, reserves manager and head land agent for the RSPB over the last thirty-five years. John has considerable experience of heathland issues.He is the ecological adviser on land management issues for lowland heaths, mires and uplands for the RSPB and has represented the RSPB at a number of public inquiries concerning development adjacent to heathland. He has published over 33 scientific papers, reports and proceedings.
Joanna Sharp, BSc, DIC, PhD
With nine years academic research experience, Joanna has worked on a range of projects including developing spatial models 
of plant distributions (Imperial College London), work on trends in macro-lepidoptera (University of York), use of GIS analysis to explore the choice of roost sites by gulls in England (Central Science Laboratory) and the Farm Scale Evaluations of GM crops (CEH).
Joanna has recently been working for the Urban Heaths Partnership in Dorset, conducting visitor survey work and is a member of the British Ecological Society. She brings technical competence in computer programming and wide experience of GIS to the team.
Joanna has led GIS training for Footprint Ecology. Other work at Footprint Ecology has included analysis and modelling visitor patterns within the New Forest (for the New Forest National Park) work on the Frome Valley for Purbeck District Council and analysis of nightjar numbers on heaths in Dorset and the Thames Basin (for Natural England).
Jim White BSc (Hons) MBE - Ecologist
Jim White has worked for some 30 years for the predecessor bodies to Natural England. As Conservation officer for NCC and then English Nature in Dorset, Jim had direct responsibility for the identification and designation of a range of sites across the county including most of the county’s140 SSSIs. Later, as Team Manager, he led the team which secured the designation of the entire suite of heathlands as SAC, SPA and RAMSAR sites, Poole Harbour as an SPA and RAMSAR site, and the inscription of the coast as a major part of the only natural World Heritage Site in England. Jim has extensive experience of European legislation on wildlife conservation including the Habitat and Birds Directives and the UK legislation that flows from these. He has acted in numerous public inquiries both as expert witness and advocate. Jim’s considerable experience extends to the field, and he is a notable naturalist. Since retiring from Natural England, Jim has been elected to serve as a Trustee for the Dorset Wildlife Trust. In 2008 Jim was awarded an MBE for services to nature conservation in Dorset.
Sophie Lake BSc PhD - Ecologist
Sophie has spent the last 10 years in Dorset, where she completed her PhD looking at the role of livestock grazing in the conservation of lowland heathland. She brings a broad range of experience in conservation and applied research, having spent the last 16 years working for CEH, University of East Anglia, RSPB, EN, and various Wildlife Trusts and projects around the UK. Most recently she worked for The Wildlife Trusts leading the Grazing Animals Project. Sophie has also worked abroad in Bolivia and Fiji for Birdlife International and has carried out research on aquatic pollution in the south of France. A LANTRA approved trainer, she has lead training courses for conservation land managers and farmers. She has extensive experience of organising training courses, field trips, workshops and seminars including a national conference.
Sophie's passion for wild places and interest in deep ecology lead her to co-found VINE values in nature and the environment, exploring and supporting the inspiration and vision underlying nature conservation. Her wider environmental concerns see her currently volunteering with Transition Purbeck, working for local sustainability and resilience in the face of climate change and peak oil.
Katie Cruickshanks BSc PhD - Ecologist
Katie has been involved in a number of research projects through her academic .jpg)
career including population studies on the Southern damselfly in the New Forest, climate change studies on rocky shore communities and the influences of off-shore sea defences on coastal ecology in Sussex. Katie completed a PhD in marine ecology in conjunction with the Marine Biological Association which focused on novel approaches to investigating predator-prey relationships on the rocky shore.
Prior to joining Footprint Ecology, Katie worked for Butterfly Conservation as a researcher where she developed and launched the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey in 2009. She has also worked as a university lecturer (teaching the history of nature conservation in the UK) and has conducted visitor / access survey work.
Katie is responsible for co-ordinating and running a range of different surveys and data analysis, including visitor work at a range of different sites. She has excellent GIS and data handling skills. Katie is passionate about sustainability issues and is heavily involved in the local Purbeck Transition group.
Jenny Goy - Administrator
Jenny joined Footprint Ecology as part time administrator in 2007. She has more than 20 years experience in administration, with almost 15 of those working for conservation in Dorset.
A keen dog walker with a passion for the environment, Jenny is responsible for our office and financial administration, implementing best practice and green purchasing.